After The War
by fb111a
Summary: After Mission City, the Autobots deal with building a life on Earth. But that is not as easy as it seems. Will feature a crossover or two or more ... and some may not be what you think. Part 9 up...
1. Chapter 1

**Fort Bragg Military Reservation **

**North Carolina**

_Wow… this planet is amazing_.

That had been the first thought Hound had when he had climbed out of the hole. He'd come down near a forest. The first thing to do was to scan an alternate form. He'd done that, and then got back onto the Internet thing that Jazz had filled him in on.

_Oh… so this form has variations… okay… let's do this…_

He checked on his internal computers. Perfect. He transformed, and then began to make his way down the road, looking over the maps. Okay, he could take Route 24, and then check out the Outer Banks. That could work – that would work very well.

Hound noticed a second form coming in. Cliffjumper had said he would be trying to land near him.

_Maybe I should link up with him so we aren't alone…_

Hound then stopped. A large four-legged animal had bounded in front of him. He'd stopped just in time. His sensors scanned it, and he checked. What he had seen was _odocoileus virginianus_. A male of the species – that would be a buck, with eight points… a beautiful creature. Typical of his species?

He pulled to the side, and began looking over the Internet.

_Amazing doesn't even begin to describe this planet_, he thought as he watched a _scurius carolinensis_ climbed up a tree.

_Wow. I'm going to keep checking this place out._

And so he did… completely forgetting the part in the transmission where Optimus had told him to check in.

**Autobot Base**

** Hoover Dam, Nevada**

With the dissolution of Sector Seven, the base in Hoover Dam was offered to the Autobots. Major William Lennox, military attaché to the Autobots, was talking with Ambassador Banachek, the former director of Sector Seven.

"How have some of them been getting along?" Banachek asked.

"Pretty well. Prowl's arrived, and is getting along – he's a 2004 Impala police car. Bluestreak chose a blue Impala from the same year," Lennox said. "They expect some more arrivals. Wheeljack, who they describe as an inventor – although Ironhide says mad scientist is more accurate. Mirage, a sniper and surveillance expert is also due in the next week, as are Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Cliffjumper just checked in, he chose a 2007 Chevy Cobalt."

"What about Hound?" Banachek asked.

"Nothing. There was an impact at Fort Bragg. A patrol discovered a crater that is about the size of what would be expected from a protoform impact," Lennox said. They stopped as the sound of an Autobot walking came closer.

"Any word on Hound from your people?" Ratchet asked.

"No," Lennox said.

"Just great," Ratchet said.

"He wasn't damaged, was he?" Banachek asked.

"No, but there could be a first time," Ratchet said. "We really do not know the effect that an energon leak could have on your local ecology, or if he landed in a building and got trapped in the rubble."

"By the way, Ratchet, the mayor of Las Vegas wanted to thank you for your efforts after that building collapse," Banachek said. "The ceremony is in ten days, and everyone is invited."

"It was just my duty as a medical professional," Ratchet said. "No more, no less."

The humans exchanged a glance.

"Sounds like you do," Banachek said to Lennox, referring to Lennox's Distinguished Service Cross for his actions at Mission City and in the wake of the attack on SOCCENT.

"Chromia says the same thing," Lennox said. Chromia and Elita One had been the first to arrive. Chromia had chosen the form of a Saturn VUE. Elita One's choice had been a Subaru Baja.

"How are she and Sarah getting along?" Ratchet asked.

"Sometimes, I think too well," Lennox said. "Ironhide and I went off-roading last week before her cousin's wedding, and came back muddy. It's bad enough with an angry Sarah alone… but when she teams up with Chromia, it isn't a fair fight."

"Hey, little bitches, what's kicking?"

Ratchet soon turned to the voice. A 2008 Pontiac Solstice was there, and in a very stylish transformation, became Jazz.

"Jazz!" Ratchet said, aghast.

"C'mon, Hatchet, I feel great. I'm ready to start illin' if I have to spend one more joor on recharge rest," Jazz said.

"Back to your quarters, now, or I'll have Optimus confine you to medbay!" Ratchet said, waving a tool for emphasis, much to the amusement of Lennox and Banachek.

**Tranquility, Nevada**

Bumblebee had been keeping a frequency open, just in case someone called in. He had already heard the news that Hound had not called in yet – even when he had apparently landed. He had twice gone driving in the middle of the night to get his mind off worrying. It had been two days.

Hound, what is taking so long? 

Sam walked out, mostly because his best friend needed someone to talk to.

"How's it going, Bee?" he asked.

"No word from Hound," the Autobot said.

Just then, some beeps came over the radio.

"Cliffjumper! Have you heard from Hound?" Bumblebee asked.

"No. I'm looking all over this place called North Carolina for him," Cliffjumper said. "Any word since he radioed his landing coordinates?"

"None," Bumblebee said. "But Powerglide and Warpath did report in. Both are going to land there and look for him. Perceptor also signaled, he and Skyfire will be coming here – they made an interesting find, and want to fill us in."

**Outer Banks, North Carolina**

Hound had learned that his alternate forum did draw reactions from the humans. They were fascinating creatures – had one really killed Megatron? There was much more to them… and he was only getting a slight glimpse as he was. If he truly was to experience this planet – the only way to do so was to be a human himself.

He did have the means to make holograms – and had used them to interact a little. He had to find his way carefully, at least until he and Jazz could talk things over some. Jazz was very good at picking up alien cultures. For instance, what was with that car behind him flashing those blue lights?

Hound quickly accelerated out of sight, and then he activated his holograms – making it appear he had vanished into thin air. The car – with DARE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE on it – still looked around. Hound thought things over. Maybe he needed to use his holograms. The visible weapons might draw attention. Take those out – and look like one of the civilian models. He called them up on the Internet, modified his hologram projector, and went to work. It would at least get him out of this area.

The departure was far too soon. This was a beautiful part of North Carolina, but he needed to let things cool down a little. Well, the Appalachian Mountains would be worth exploring. He'd head there while avoiding highways. Hound checked Google for driving directions. The trip, via a few cities, would take eleven hours.

What could go wrong?


	2. Chapter 2

**Autobot Base**

"Optimus, we got what may be a sighting," Jazz said, walking over to his commander.

"Where?" Optimus asked.

"A U.S. Army-issue HMMWV, with a TOW launcher and M2 on top," Jazz said. "Sighted near the Outer Banks of North Carolina."

"They normally don't have both. What makes you sure it's Hound, and not a Decepticon?" Lennox asked.

"He evaded the Dare County Sheriff's Office. They have an APB out for the HMMWV. Wanted for no registration, evading a law enforcement officer, and a host of other traffic charges," Jazz said. "Prowl's gonna have a lot of words for him."

"Great, an Autobot with a rap sheet," Banachek said. "I'll vector our track-down team there."

"Simmons?" Optimus asked. The Sector Seven agent and Optimus were not friends, but the agent had apologized to Bumblebee and Sam – and Optimus had to admit that the man had been acting out of ignorance, not malice.

"Yes. We have updated him on the situation, but he wants more information on Hound's personality," Banachek said.

"Jazz, fill him in," Optimus said. "Anything else?"

"You said Perceptor and Skyfire found something. What is it?" Banachek said.

"They don't want to say over the air," Optimus said. "Can't blame them – there still are Decepticons out there."

"Incidentally, Elmendorf has reported an extra F-15E at their base. No evidence of hostile intent, but it did have Decepticon markings," Lennox said. "It's kind of a dark blue, which tipped them off that it wasn't normal."

"Sounds like Thundercracker," said Bluestreak. "With Megatron offline, I think he's okay. He never really was into the conquest or anything like that – I think he stopped believing in the Decepticon cause long ago, but he was afraid of Megatron."

"We humans have seen things like that happen here," Banachek said for a long time. "Any word on Barricade?"

"Nothing. He's laying low – last seen in a high-speed pursuit when he forced a car with two bank robbers off the road. Kinda doing a bit of that around the country, it seems," Banachek said. "In Miami, he forced a guy carrying fifty kilos of cocaine off the road. The smuggler was killed when the car fireballed. In Charlotte, he ran down a man trying to kill a cop."

"Great, he's taking after Paul Kersey," Jazz muttered.

"Who?" Optimus asked.

"Ever see _Death Wish_?" Lennox asked. "Do we track him down?"

"Let's wait for Wheeljack, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe to get here," Optimus said. "Wheeljack will be bringing some systems that will help us neutralize Decepticons without a firefight. We did enough damage to your planet at Mission City as it stands. It is well past time for the war to end, and with the Allspark gone, we need to avoid killing."

Just then, Banachek's phone rang.

**US 13, Outside Newton Grove, North Carolina**

Hound had not realized just how much there was. He had taken to the back roads, which not only avoided the highways where he was a lot of these cars with POLICE or SHERIFF on them (there had been a close call around Goldsboro, where he'd had to let his hologram projectors cool down for a while), but there were more sights and sounds to see.

He could spend a vorn in North Carolina, and he'd still not see all there was to see here. And there were forty-nine other states in this country – and each had to have their sights and wonders. Hound was eager to explore – and he didn't want to miss a single wonder. He'd even seen a meteor streak across the sky, too.

He kept driving along, and checked his systems once more. He was going to use most of his power for the hologram – and to keep it from overloading. The less obtrusive he was, the better. And that meant keeping off the air.

Just then, he saw something on the side of the road. It was, according to a local radio station, twenty minutes after eleven PM. He could risk transforming. He did so, and got a closer look.

It was a _canis lupus familiaris_, specifically, a Golden Retriever. It had been well-fed, and there was a collar. Somebody had owned the pet. Now, it was lying by the side of the road, hit by a vehicle on the road.

_Why did nobody stop to help it?_ Hound scanned it as best he could. Broken ribs, spinal injury… it was in bad shape. He went online to look up who to call – yes, that would do it. Upon finding Sampson County Animal Control's emergency number, he scanned the stricken animal again… and found no more signs of life.

For a moment, Hound sat there, stunned. He noticed the headlights, and quickly transformed. There was nothing he could do for the dog except to call – the owners, a family by the name of BRENNAN – would at least want to know what had happened to their pet, named Misty. He dialed Sampson County Animal Control, and left a message on the machine. After the coast was clear, Hound found a quiet spot where he could at least guard the stricken creature until she could be retrieved.

**Charlotte, North Carolina**

For Agent Jackson Simmons, life had taken its turns. Formerly with Sector Seven, now he was part of the Department of Homeland Security, leading the Transformer Containment team.

Right now, he was waiting for a Transformer, but not to ambush it. As a red Chevrolet Cobalt arrived, he walked over. It soon transformed into an Autobot about fifteen feet tall, a little smaller than NBE-2 – no, Bumblebee. Simmons wouldn't have blamed that Autobot for hating him. Thankfully, the Autobot held no grudges. Sam, on the other hand had told him in no uncertain terms that he'd better not so much as give Bumblebee a mean look, or else. Simmons took the hint, and had taken a post far from the West Coast.

Cliffjumper knelt down.

"Agent Simmons? I'm Cliffjumper," he said.

"Glad to meet you," Simmons said. "We got a couple of possible leads on Hound. He seems to be okay. Looks like he gave the Goldsboro cops the slip about fourteen hours ago."

"And the other lead?"

"We think it may fit, but we're not sure. Sampson County Animal Control had a message this morning, left around 2330 last night – apparently a dog had been hit. No proof it's him, but someone reported seeing a giant machine in the area. Sampson County Sheriff's Office passed it off as a drunk," Simmons said.

"That would be Hound," Cliffjumper said. "He's an explorer at heart, but also gentle. Hates the thought of hurting anything."

"Where do you think he would be sightseeing?" Simmons asked.

"Probably taking back roads. How many are there between here and Newton Grove?" the Autobot asked.

"Lots," Simmons said. _This is going to be harder than I thought_, he added.

_**Iacon Explorer**_

The scientists Perceptor and Skyfire were taking their time. The new discovery had been both fascinating, yet somewhat odd. It seemed that species similar to humans were out there in the world, and some had advanced technology.

How they had arrived on those planets was a mystery that Perceptor was eager to unravel. Humans on those other planets had only been there for a short while – with no real evolutionary signs on those planets. But the ones on earth seemed to have evolved there. Logically, someone had to have acquired some humans from earth anywhere from one to five millennia ago.

But he also wanted to get to Earth so he could speak to some of the humans he had only read about from the reports that had come from the Autobot base. Hawking, Venter, and this James Burke all seemed fascinating. For-real scientists. Not that Skyfire was bad company, but Perceptor wanted to learn more – and new people to talk about science and the galaxy would help him do just that.

Skyfire sighed, as Perceptor was looking around.

"Have you seen where I left that report on the artifacts from Planet 57-A34?" Perceptor asked.

"Did you check the output device?" Skyfire asked. Perceptor was brilliant, but he could be a little… forgetful. Absent-minded was probably the more accurate term, but Skyfire did try to keep things simple for other Autobots.

**Ile Notre Dame **

**Montreal, Quebec**

The protoform had landed on the shore of the island. It quickly moved from the location, going invisible while he looked for a form. Some of his systems had been dinged a little. He quickly scanned a vehicle, activated his electro-disruption field, and began to make his move.

It did not take him long to get out of the city and begin to make his way to the more rural areas. That was when he realized one of his systems had taken more than a ding. His first indication was when he realized that a human was staring at him. _Isn't my electro-disruption field on? I set it for… oh, slag._

The field had lasted, all right… getting him across the Canadian border and into the United States. Then, he noticed that there was a car behind him, with blue lights flashing. It read NEW YORK STATE POLICE. He tried the generator again… no luck. He had a backup system, but it would only last for five breems, or thirty of what the humans called minutes. He engaged it, and took the next exit, driving as fast as he could until he found an abandoned farm where he could hole up.

"Mirage to Autobot Base. Landed at coordinates 45.5 north, 73.5 west. Currently seven kilometers west of Peru, New York. Damage to electro-disruption field. Possible encounter with Decepticon Barricade, but evaded him. Will transmit for one minute every two hours on an even hour."

With that, Mirage transformed, and decided to hole up. Now, why were humans staring at him so much? He'd scanned a perfectly functional car. Okay, so it was fast – which he had admittedly had a preference for due to his days of hunting turbofoxes, but he'd followed the speed limit. He transformed and got his dart rifle ready. He'd be safe here, but if he had to flee, he might be in trouble. Hopefully, Ratchet would come soon and fix him up. He was beginning to feel that he would need it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada**

The C-17A Globemaster was warmed up just as two vehicles arrived. The first was a Hummer H2 equipped for search-and-rescue work. The second was a late-model Camaro. The vehicles drove into the ramp, and as they lifted, Sam, Mikaela, and Lennox had all climbed out of the vehicles.

"We're set!" Lennox shouted to the pilot.

"Where's the rest of the team? I thought they were sending a medic and backup," said the crewman.

"They're here," Lennox said.

The crewman did the double-take.

"The Hummer's the medic?" the Senior Airman asked.

"Got it in one," said Lennox.

**Charlotte, North Carolina**

Simmons got the report on his cell phone, then changed the number, and dialed his second-in-command.

"Morton, re-check the status on NBE known as Barricade," he said. This did not add up. The last known location of Barricade had been in Charlotte…

"Last known location was here, boss," Ted Morton said.

"Then why would Mirage say he possibly evaded him in New York?" Cliffjumper asked.

"Probably because he only knows Barricade is a police car," Simmons said. "Trust me on this – you do not want to jump to conclusions on incomplete information. I did that, and I ended up cryo-freezing Bumblebee. Let's find the facts out first. I suspect Mirage may be damaged."

"The transmission only said it was his electro-disruption field generator," Cliffjumper pointed out.

"What I learned in combat lifesaver training – if there's one injury you know about, there may be more," Simmons said. "I suspect Mirage is hurt, probably landed wrong."

"Right… some parts of this planet are pretty hard. Ratchet will cover that pretty well, though. Best medic you could hope for," Cliffjumper said.

"Now, where do you think Hound would go from the Outer Banks?"

"My bet would be the Appalachian Mountains," Cliffjumper said.

"Right. First priority has to be Barricade. He killed two people already," Simmons said,

"But Wheeljack, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker aren't here yet," Cliffjumper objected.

"We may not be able to wait," Simmons said.

"You're right… especially since we don't know what Hound's status is," Cliffjumper said. "Whoa! Very small earthquake here."

Simmons frowned. There were no known faults here…

"Earthquake?" he asked.

"More like a line of travel," Cliffjumper said.

"Great… we know of one hostile NBE capable of doing that," Simmons said. "A giant scorpion that killed one Green Beret and wounded another."

"Scorponok?" Cliffjumper exclaimed. "Great, two bad guys, and I'm the only Autobot."

"Shall I call for backup?" Simmons asked.

"Nah… bring em on," Cliffjumper said.

_Great_, Simmons thought, _I get a trigger-happy Autobot who is on his own_.

He picked up his phone, and made the call. "Control, this is Simmons, get Fort Bragg to DEFCON Two, THREATCON Delta. Now!"

He was not going to be caught by surprise.

**Francis Gabreski ANGB, New York**

The C-17 landed at the air base, and the two vehicles drove out.

"Let's go," Lennox said. "Bumblebee, signal Mirage – tell him we're six hours out. Also give him Barricade's location as Charlotte."

"Right," Bumblebee said. He sent the message, and got the response back.

"Hey, little buddy. How are you doing?" Mirage asked.

"Feeling great," Bumblebee said.

"Your voice processor got fixed?" Mirage asked.

"The Allspark," Bumblebee said. "Unfortunately, we had to destroy it to keep Megatron from seizing it."

"Oh, no," Mirage said. "Well, it's good to hear your voice again."

"Hang on, Mirage, Ratchet is with me, and we will get you fixed. What is your alternate mode?" Bumblebee asked.

"Pretty eye-catching," said Mirage. "A Ferrari F2007. I thought Barricade was behind me, and I didn't want to risk a chase…"

"Don't worry," Lennox said. "He's down in North Carolina – a day's drive, if not more. ButI think I know why you thought he was behind you."

"Why's that?" Mirage asked.

"Formula One race cars are not exactly street legal," Lennox said.

"Oh," Mirage said.

"You probably got some tickets coming," Bumblebee said.

"Great, just great…" Mirage said. "Do they take Cybertronian currency in payment?"

**Under Fort Bragg**

He'd heard many of the voices that he had before his last encounter. And they had little clue he was there. It would be a simple plan. Jump up, attack, wreak havoc – and then head underground before any of the jets or the cargo planes came.

The cargo planes. They had hurt him the last time… and now, he was ready for revenge.

Skorponok was hunting… and he enjoyed that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Fort Bragg, North Carolina**

Simmons looked over the crater, and had to admit that this landing didn't look like it would have caused any damage. Looking around, he couldn't see any Autobot, although they were good at picking forms.

"Warpath said he'd try to look inconspicuous," Cliffjumper said.

"Somehow, you think he won't be," Simmons said.

"Warpath's idea of subtle is to use his second-largest gun," Cliffjumper said.

Simmons broke out in a laugh at that comment.

"More earthquakes, sir," one of the agents said. "Seems like something is tunneling underneath us."

"Skorponok," Cliffjumper said. He began to check his weapon status. All was up and running.

Simmons checked his weapons, then kept ready.

**Outside Peru, New York**

Ratchet and Bumblebee transformed as they neared the location where Mirage had holed up.

"Hold it," a voice came out. "Who goes there?"

"Ratchet and Bumblebee," Ratchet said.

"Advance and be recognized," Mirage said. Ratchet and Bumblebee made their way forward. "Okay, you're Bumblebee and Ratchet," he said, lowering his dart rifle.

The former aristocrat made his way out as Ratchet began to scan him.

"How bad, Ratchet?" Mirage asked.

"Where was your impact location?" Ratchet asked.

Mirage sent the coordinates in a text massage.

"Okay, you may have some shorts – probably due to hitting a rock and then ending up underwater. We'll probably have to replace the whole generator," Ratchet said. "Best to transport him. Can one of your new search-and-rescue helicopters carry him?"

Lennox got on his phone, and spent two minutes talking.

"ETA in one hour. We'll need to get him prepped for transport," he said.

"Right," Ratchet said. "Mirage, I'm going to need to put you in stasis."

"You're the doctor," Mirage said.

Ratchet went to work.

**I-295, south of Slocumb, North Carolina**

Hound would be glad to get off this Interstate Highway. Humans here seemed to draw their inspiration from Decepticons, which had him feeling bemused, given what he knew of the Deception ideology regarding biological entities.

He'd kept the hologram generator on for most of that trip, and now he had to find a way back into the country to explore things some more. State Route 24 might be the best option for that.

_Back to the country and the chance to really see what there is to see here_, he told himself. Of course, he just had to avoid those cars with the flashing lights… at least while he had his hologram generator off. Oh… he could do just about anything. But Optimus had said that a low profile was warranted.

**Under Fort Bragg**

Now… it was time to strike. Most of the humans had gone to their recreational activities… and they were at their lowest alert.

Skorponok set his internal timer for two hours. Let the human tradition of "happy hour" get well under way, and when the humans had their senses dulled by alcohol, he would strike. The timing was important when one was seeking their prey.

**Autobot Base**

The _Iacon Explorer_ had landed, bringing Perceptor and Skyfire out. The former had chosen the form of a USGS Hummer H2 with a LIDAR system on its roof. It was, as Perceptor would explain in a lot of very large words, the best form to conceal his many scientific instruments and scanners. It was not his only option, though. He did have the ability to transfer his consciousness to a smaller body – in this case, one that transformed into a microscope, the better to interact with humans.

Skyfire's choice had been much simpler. He'd chosen to use the C-17 as his alternate mode. After all, he pointed out, he could not only provide transportation, but he could also carry a lot of scanners.

"Skyfire, Perceptor, welcome," said Ambassador Banachek. "If you have a few minutes, there are just some formalities we need to observe, and then you can take care of some business."

He pulled out a tablet PC, and called up a file. "I just need to get you registered in, and we'll have you set up a permanent residents of the United States of America within 24 hours…"

The process took very little time, and once that was done, Banachek left to get everything official. After he left, Optimus turned to the two scientists.

"What did you find that you couldn't talk about on the radio?" Optimus asked.

That was when Skyfire opened up a storage compartment and pulled out a couple of older books.

"We found these on a planet that had been devastated by war while we were looking for parts to repair the _Explorer_," he said. "One is a star chart that marked Earth as the final destination for what was the objective of those who destroyed the planet and wiped out the population that lived there about 800 vorns ago. The other… you need to see for yourself," Skyfire said.

"Optimus, we found this box," Perceptor said. After transforming into his alt mode, he soon popped out his smaller robot, which opened up a compartment on the SUV. Out came a box. Perceptor's smaller robot quickly went to work on the box, which was soon opened. Upon seeing the contents, Optimus Prime's face showed surprise.

"By Primus, is that legend true?" Optimus asked, looking at the scientists.

----

AN: I know, a cliff-hanger, and Skoponok's still waiting... but hey, you'll be back for Chapter 5, right:)


	5. Chapter 5

**South Bragg Blvd.**

Fort Bragg, North Carolina 

Getting back on Fort Bragg meant that he could rest his hologram projector. Hound had needed it more and more – and he knew the risk of a breakdown was high. And if there was a breakdown, Ratchet would throw a rather large fit.

A vehicle park would probably give him time to shut everything down, and then he could rest for a few joors before he went back to checking this out. As he finally found a relatively secluded area to park, he noticed that there had been a new gate guardian. When he'd landed there had only been one of what the humans called M551 Sheridan tanks. Now there were two…

Hound took a closer look. _Yeah, that had to be Warpath. He'd go for something with a big gun, all right…_

Oh, slag! He'd forgotten to check in with Optimus.

He activated his communications system and checked. Sure enough, a dozen messages from Cliffjumper, trying to make contact. Then there were the ones from Optimus.

"Hound calling Autobot Base. I'm okay, just been doing some sightseeing," he said. He then logged off.

Cliffjumper got the message. Typical Hound, he had figured that was what he had been up to early on in the search.

"Did you know you are the subject of several traffic wants?" he asked Hound. This was going to be fun.

**Plattsburgh Air Force Base New York**

The C-17B landed, and Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Mirage drove in. As Sam and Lennox exited, the first thing they noticed was no crew.

"What in the world?" Sam asked.

"The name's Skyfire," came a voice over the intercom. "And we need to make a run to Pope Air Force Base. Hound's turned up there."

"Sightseeing again?" Ratchet asked.

"Yep. And with a load of wants, too," Skyfire said, laughing. "Mostly for evading police officers."

"Glad I'm not alone," Mirage said.

"Great just great," Lennox muttered. "I get to fix more traffic tickets. Not quite what they meant when they said, 'Join the Army.'"

**Autobot Base**

Jazz gently flipped through the books.

"Perceptor's translation is pretty much on the money – especially after you translate it from nerd-speak to English," he said. "Optimus, if the legend is true, then they are here, and that is good news and bad news."

"Agreed," Optimus said. "The humans would have some very powerful weapons for their defense. But would they be able to use them?"

Jazz nodded in agreement. "Optimus, this is a tough spot. The United States government, in general, tries to do the right thing. They just can't seem to agree on it sometimes. Other governments…"

Optimus nodded sadly. The events in Burma – or was it Myanmar? – had weighed heavily on his mind.

"We can't hold back, Optimus. We need to give Lennox and Banachek the full scoop," Jazz said. "At least about what is on the planet. We play it straight with them, Lennox and Banachek will play straight with us."

"But here is the other question," Ironhide said. "If these things are here, then why haven't the humans found any yet?"

"Buried in an avalanche or underneath the ocean surface," Perceptor said. "Remember Windcharger and Gears? Both of them are still fourteen miles off the coast of San Diego, and they landed here about eight hundred years ago."

Ratchet had been worried – but the good news was that their protoforms were in hibernation – the only concern was what eight hundred years of exposure to salt water would do to them.

"This maritime vessel the humans have – the _Glomar Explorer_ – can it recover them undamaged?" Perceptor asked.

"Easily done," Ironhide said. "Lennox tells me that ship once recovered a sunken submarine. Two protoforms – piece of cake."

"How many others?" Optimus asked.

"Well, on earth, we have you, me, Hide, Hatchet, Bee, Prowl, Cliffjumper, Warpath, Mirage, Hound – he just made contact and was off sightseeing, Bluestreak, Perceptor, Chromia, Elita One, and Skyfire," Jazz said. "Windcharger and Gears are on the bottom of the Pacific but will be up shortly. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe will be landing tomorrow or the day after – they're aiming for Beverly Hills. Wheeljack landed and scanned an alternative form, and is en route. Powerglide's also en route with Moonracer."

**Under Fort Bragg**

_NOW!_

Scorponok finally began to "climb" upwards, and soon burst through the ground and landed. Several fighters… no, not serious threats. Over two dozen of the planes like the ones that had been able to hurt him. Start with those.

He fired off his missiles, and began to make his way. Alarms sounded, and Scorponok reveled in it. He always enjoyed it when his victims panicked.

Simmons was the first to act, grabbing his M4 with the M203 underneath. As the Pope Air Force Base security team kept firing – without effect – he made his way forward, shouting commands into his radio. As he was getting ready, he saw the red Cobalt arrive.

Cliffjumper transformed and began to open up with his gun. That got Scorponok's attention, and Cliffjumper soon found himself ducking the return fire.

"Forgot he could reload so quickly," Cliffjumper muttered to himself.

"No kidding, I read Lennox's report," Simmons said, as he fired off a grenade. Hit! He ducked down to avoid Scorponok's return fire.

As Simmons poked his head up, he saw Scopronok tumble backwards from a hit.

"Tank you, Scorponok!" came a voice. Simmons turned to see a M551 Sheridan tank moving forward, then stop, transforming into a very tough-looking robot.

A HMMWV also moved in, with both a TOW launcher and a .50-caliber?

_Our tourist NBE_, Simmons thought. That was confirmed when the HMMWV transformed into a robot and also began firing.

"Can't seem to get a bead on him!" Cliffjumper shouted. Warpath kept firing shot after shot as well, once even flipping the scorpion on its back, but it quickly recovered.

Two A-10s had gotten airborne. Armed with AGM-65 Maverick anti-tank missiles and a full load of shells for their GAU-8 Avenger cannons, they were moving into position for a run on the target.

Neither pilot saw the protoform coming in behind them, nor did they even notice that they had been scanned.

Powerglide soon kicked into high speed, and went past the human fighter jets. This was no business for them – time instead for a Cybertronian ace to show them how this was done.

"Hang on, Hound! Help is on the way! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane – no, it's Powerglide!"

He quickly drew a bead, and let loose with the gun.

Simmons had never seen such an accurate display of fire. Scorponok danced back, and then Simmons saw the A-10 transform – and Powerglide soon had Scorponok by what was left of the tail and was hurling him several hundred yards. Just as that happened, a single AH-6 Little Bird popped up and began firing rounds from its GAU-2 minigun into Scorponok as well.

The mech had finally had enough. He dove underground.

"Anyone hurt?" Simmons called.

Hound was assisting Cliffjumper, who had taken a couple of near misses.

"Cliffjumper took a missile on his leg. Not serious, but we need a medic," Hound said. His right arm was also leaking fluid of some sort.

Simmons flipped the switch on his radio.

"This is Simmons. Control, we have two wounded Autobots, designations Cliffjumper and Hound. Request medical aid for them as soon as possible."

The AH-6 soon transformed, and revealed yet another Autobot.

"Fancy shooting, Moonracer," Powerglide said. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Just fine…" the femme said, "Just tired."

"Take it easy," Powerglide said.

"What's wrong?" Simmons asked.

"Probably low on energy," Warpath said. "I'm not that well-trained in primary repair," he said.

"I am," came a gruff voice. "Move aside."

Ratchet was quickly on one knee and reviewing Moonracer. He soon looked up.

"She's sparkbearing… about four orns along. I'll need to get her to a medbay to make sure she is okay."

"Sparkbearing?" Simmons and Sam repeated, too stunned to even make snide comments at each other. Bumblebee's eyes went wide, as did everyone else.

"You mean she's pregnant?" Simmons blurted out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Autobot Base**

Skyfire's landing had been perfect. Ratchet made his way outside the ramp, nearly running into Powerglide, who had not even tried landing. The two eased Moonracer out of the C-5B.

As the other Autobots limped out of Skyfire, Ratchet whistled, and Optimus drove out, towing a trailer. Moonracer was eased on, and Optimus gently drove her into the base.

"How is she, doc?" Powerglide asked.

"Okay for now, but we will need to build a body for the sparkling fast," Ratchet said.

"Build the body? But doesn't it need to…" Mikaela asked.

"Not quite," Ratchet said. "While your babies develop in the womb, a spark is ready almost immediately. But if it is not implanted in a body within ten orns, it can be a disaster."

"How long does it take to build a body?" Sam asked.

"With the arrival of the _Iacon Explorer_, not too long," Ratchet said. "Perceptor!"

"There is no need to use a high audio volume, Ratchet, you are well within audio range," the scientist said.

"We need to start building a body for Moonracer's sparkling."

"A sparkling?" Perceptor asked, too befuddled to really babble. He just stood there, frozen…

"You heard the bot, so MOVE!" Simmons shouted.

Perceptor did just that, allowing Simmons to blow out his breath and maybe get the world to slow down a little bit. He transformed into his alternate mode, then drove, following Optimus in.

**Outside Beverly Hills, California**

The two protoforms had landed within five miles of each other. It had been a simple matter for each to scan a form, and make their way to the rendezvous they had set up.

The yellow Lamborghini Diablo pulled to the intersection, and seemed to size up the red Countach.

"Stylish, bro," the red Countach said.

"You look almost as good as me, Sideswipe," the yellow Diablo said.

"Wanna race to the base, Sunstreaker?" the Countach asked.

"Won't be much of one," the Diablo said.

"Let's find out!" Sideswipe said as he gunned his engine, and took off.

Sunstreaker was soon in hot pursuit – starting the 294-mile drag race.

**Autobot Base**

Communications watch could be dull, Jazz thought. Well, it wasn't like the Hatchet was letting him do anything more strenuous, although with this new emergency, Jazz might be able to avoid the Hatchet some more. After all, TV was nice, especially with digital cable, but it was getting to be very boring. Jazz needed something exciting.

A signal did change that.

"-This is Clamp Down and Deep Cover, we have landed near Victorville, California,"

Jazz hit the switch. "Jazz here. Scan alternate modes and head to Hoover Dam," he said.

"Roger," Deep Cover said. "Also, you might want to look into police reports of a Diablo and a Countach – neither with drivers – having a drag race."

"Sunstreaker and Sideswipe?" Jazz asked.

"Probably," Clamp Down said.

"I'll advise Prime," Jazz said. Optimus was going to have a fit after he saw the pile of tickets that had to be coming from this.

**Three minutes later**

"They're _what_?!!!" Prime asked.

"Having a drag race from Beverly Hills to here," Jazz repeated.

Simmons began chuckling as he heard that comment.

"Prowl, head them off, and take help," Prime said.

"Right," Prowl said, transforming.

"I'll go," Jazz said. "We rolling!"

He transformed and sped out of the area before Prime could react. Optimus did not mind taking over the communications watch at all. That wasn't going to be the problem. No, explaining to Ratchet why he had let Jazz speed off to aid human law enforcement end a drag race between two Autobots when he was on light duty under medic's orders was going to be the problem.

**Victorville, California**

A search on the Internet had given Clamp Down and Deep Cover the information they needed. It did not take them long to scan a Lamborghini Countach, and then modify that design a little to suit their needs.

They drove from the area, and as the two drag-racing Lamborghini supercars shot past, they hit their lights and began pursuit.

Sunstreaker had mostly made up the distance, and now it was simply a matter of skill. The Diablo had a more powerful engine, but the Countach was no slouch, and it was more stable with its spoiler.

California Highway Patrol officer Sanchez noticed the race, and saw that there were a couple of interceptors in pursuit – both Lamborghini Countach LP5000S models. Maybe he'd joined the wrong force… and he'd have to look into a transfer – driving a supercar for work would be nice.

He then stopped his daydreaming. Did any police agencies in the state use Lamborghinis? Nobody had heard anything about that. He thought about calling it in, then decided not to. He took a look at his cup of coffee, and decided not to drink any more. It had to have been spiked with LSD. There could be no other explanation for this evening. Meteors, driverless cars… this was way too weird.

**I-15**

Jazz and Prowl were closing in on the drag race.

"Did Ratchet say you could come?" Prowl asked.

"He didn't say I couldn't," Jazz said.

The approaching drag racers were soon visible – or at least the headlights. As they saw the makeshift roadblock, they pulled to a stop, and all of the vehicles transformed. In the distance, the two interceptors transformed, too, and made their way over.

"You two are in trouble," Prowl said.

**Autobot Base**

The arrival of the Autobot convoy, consisting of one Pontiac Solstice, one Chevy Impala police cruiser, and four Lamborghinis was a sight to behold.

Optimus dealt out the discipline – confinement in the brig, which had been the old chamber where the Allspark had been. The rest were catching up as a Saleen S7R pulled in and transformed.

"Wheeljack!" Jazz said, smiling.

"I have a shuttle over on the moon – Trailbreaker is there with Brawn and Huffer," Wheeljack said. "And I heard from Omega Supreme, too. He's got Arcee, Inferno, Firestar, and Red Alert on board. We'll need a good alt mode for him."

"You could just have him scan the car of his choice," Banachek said.

"Omega's a bit tall for that," Wheeljack said.

"How tall?"

"About twelve hundred of your feet," the Autobot inventor said.

Banachek's jaw dropped to the floor.


	7. Chapter 7

**Autobot Base**

While Optimus Prime and Banachek were handling the fallout from the drag race that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had been doing, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Perceptor, and Mikaela had gone to work building a body for the sparkling. Powerglide had been sent to cut some wood. Moonracer was in robot mode, and resting – on Ratchet's orders.

"All right – we have the materials. Mikaela, I want you to make sure the wiring and hoses are in good shape. Wheeljack, start to work on the outer body with Perceptor. I'll do the spark chamber and pump," Ratchet said. The team went to work – and fast.

--

Outside the lab, Bumblebee had taken over the communications watch. The news had been exciting, and the young scout was looking forward to not having to be the youngest any more. As he was looking over things, he opened a drawer, and noticed the data storage device. He flipped it over, thinking it was a report…

Instead, it was a copy of _Playmech_. Bumblebee had heard it mentioned by other Autobots who were just having a conversation – sometimes, Ironhide would be giving the mentioner a piece of his mind, but he'd never seen one before. He thumbed through, noting that it did seem to have some decent articles. But the images were nice, too…

He never noticed Ironhide and Chromia coming in.

--

The black Topkick had been in a good mood, until he noticed Bumblebee was where Jazz was supposed to be, and he was reading on duty. Not good.

He walked over, and cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry," Bumblebee said, setting the device down.

Chromia picked it up. Bumblebee's optics widened.

--

"Now, look, Prowl needed some help with the…" Jazz was already in trouble as Ironhide walked up.

"You were on light duty. Running off to stop a drag race does not count!" Ratchet shouted. It had been an offhand comment from Deep Cover that had set him off.

"Mind if I talk with Jazz for a moment?" Ironhide asked.

One look at the face of Ironhide, and Jazz found himself realizing that Ratchet on a tirade might not have been so bad, after all…

**Cybertronian Affairs Office**

The crashing sounds made Banachek and Simmons jump. Lennox, though, was calm, looking over the last of the items.

"What was that?" Simmons shouted.

"I think someone just slagged off Ironhide," said Lennox. The crashes continued a little more, then stopped.

"Not a smart move, I take it," Banachek said.

"With those cannons?" Simmons asked. "Okay, latest surveillance on the Deception identified as Barricade had him in Arkansas, heading west. Looks like Frenzy survived taking one of his own disks, but he is not acting normally."

"What do you mean?" Lennox asked.

"Spastic," Simmons said.

"Wasn't he normally?" Lennox asked.

Simmons turned his small laptop, and ran a video. The footage showed Frenzy just out of control.

"Damn," Banachek said.

"The surveillance team leader thinks his injury may not have properly healed," Simmons said. "Wang's sharp, Ph.D.s in computer science and robotics from MIT, masters degrees in computer engineering and electrical engineering."

"I'll have Davison consult with Ratchet on that one. I'll need a copy of the video," Lennox said.

"Anything else?" Banachek asked.

"Just the sparkling," Simmons said.

"Well, I checked with the AG. As far as he is concerned, this sparkling will be the first Autobot to be an American citizen," Banachek said. "I'll give Optimus the news on that, myself."

**Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina**

Scorponok made his way out of the ground. His displays were showing all sorts of error messages, and he was feeling weaker and weaker. He finally found a secluded spot, and just collapsed, unable to go further. At least no Autobots would find him…

Everything faded to black.

**Autobot Base**

Optimus gave the Cybertronian equivalent of a sigh. He'd figured this was going to come sooner or later. From the moment he had sparked Bumblebee into existence, shortly after Megatron's forces had massacred sparklings and younglings in the various safe havens.

It had been necessary – the massacres had not only been a blow to morale, it had brought out the worst in some of the Autobots. Sunstreaker had, in fact, caught one perpetrator – and had gone way over the top in interrogating him. Ratchet had been able to save that Decepticon's spark, but that Decepticon had been a vegetable, as the humans would call it – and when a raid on the penal facility to bring more recruits for Megatron's army had happened, he had been killed on Megatron's orders. Bluestreak had, in another incident, found two who had carried out a particularly vicious massacre of sparklings, and had just offlined them on the spot – after they had surrendered.

Something frightening was happening to those under his command – the despair had led to a fatalism, and the rage was becoming uncontrolled. Something had to be done. Prime knew hope had to be restored – the belief there was something in the future worth defending.

He had used the Matrix, after a long talk with Elita One, and the results had been all he had hoped for. Sunstreaker and Bluestreak had never quite become the mechs they were before the massacres, but they had recovered, and Prime had not been forced to dismiss them or to offline them himself.

Optimus had forgotten that sparklings were Primus's revenge for how you were way back then. Now, he was going to learn.

Boy, was he going to learn.


	8. Chapter 8

**Autobot Base**

Ratchet was glad that he had relented. Mikaela had turned out to be very helpful – not only had she been good at checking the wires and hoses – she had also been able to reach and get the body wired. That would have taken a longer time had he needed the gear.

"All right, now let's get the spark planted," Wheeljack said.

Ratchet got some gear he had never expected to use again. Mikaela could have sworn she had seen something in his eyes… but she didn't even ask.

Perceptor had double-checked everything, and Wheeljack was manning the medical scanners.

Powerglide watched nervously as Ratchet held the spark. It was soon implanted into the body. Wheeljack's display lit up – all green. Mikaela smiled.

"It is a boy or a girl?" she asked.

"Powerglide and Moonracer are the proud creators of a little mech," Ratchet said. At that point his face seemed to jerk a little. "Sorry, just…"

"After the Sparkling Massacres, we'd all given up hope," Ratchet said. "We'd found Bumblebee later. But this… this is the first born since then. I'm beginning to feel hope that we may be able to bring Cybertron back even though we do not have the Allspark."

"Does he have a name?" Banachek asked.

"Well…" Powerglide said, glancing at Moonracer. "We hadn't thought. Heck, Moonracer and I weren't even planning on a sparkling when we renewed our bond…"

"Power Racer," Moonracer said, smiling.

"Sounds good to me," Powerglide said, with a smile.

That touched off the celebration.

**Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina**

Tony and Gina had been hiking the Appalachian Train when they noticed the metal wreckage. At first, it looked like a plane crash, but as they got closer, they realized it was no plane, or any human machine for that matter.

They took photos of the wreckage, and then went on their way.

**Room 3E880, The Pentagon**

Secretary of Defense John Keller had been in a very bad mood. The phone rang as he was about to leave his office.

_If this is another Senator pitching a fit about the CSAR-X program, so help me, I'll…_

It was Banachek's number. He picked up the phone. When he heard the news, he broke into a big smile.

"That is great news, Ambassador. Oh, and we just found the metal scorpion. Been lying in the Blue Ridge Mountains for a while."

He listened some more.

"Yeah, Simmons is there. He'll bring it over."

**Autobot Base**

The party had subsided. Optimus was carrying an over-energized Bumblebee, who was sleeping it off. Ratchet had been a little upset, although Bumblebee had a bit of an excuse. He was no longer the "baby" of the Autobot family.

Elita One had been a little less understanding. As Bumblebee's "step-mother", as the humans would put it, she was a bit more protective, even though she knew he had been very grown up. Tyger Pax had proven that beyond any doubt. While technically a youngling, he had never been seen as anything other than a full-fledged mech since then.

That didn't change some things. Bumblebee was so much like Optimus – always trying to be perfect, always with something to prove.

Prime set his sparkling down, just as Perceptor walked over.

"You, Ratchet, and Wheeljack did very well," he said.

"We could never have accomplished this feat without the assistance of the _homo sapiens_," Perceptor said. "The one designated Mikaela has a natural aptitude for this sort of thing."

"Secretary Keller reports the _Glomar Explorer_ is ready to recover Windcharger and Gears. I need you and Ratchet to get them recovered."

"But Power Racer…"

"Wheeljack is a qualified medic," Optimus said. "Both you and Ratchet may need to carry out repairs on Gears and Windcharger."

"Right," Perceptor said. "We will be able to have Skyspy up soon," he said.

"Good. First priority will be to locate other protoforms."

"And the legend?" Perceptor asked.

"I will brief Secretary Keller tomorrow," Prime said.

**Outside Kansas City, Kansas**

Barricade hit the lights, and watched as the humans pulled over. This time, he wasn't on a chase, but Frenzy had gotten much worse. But what could he do?

Frenzy was still alive, but he was now in a stasis lock. It was not good, Barricade knew that much.

But it would still take most of a day to get close enough. The plan was simple – he'd force Ratchet to fix Frenzy. How, he had no idea… but he'd think of something.

He had to. He'd never been devoted to the Decepticon cause, but Frenzy was… and he just could not abandon his partner, even after the Sparkling Massacres. Frenzy had stuck by him on a couple of occasions since then, even going optic-to-optic with Megatron.

Saving Frenzy's spark was the least he could do in return. It had been like that movie he'd seen, where the lone hero was going to go on his own to save a friend who had been captured.

"Why must you do this?" the hero had been asked.

"Cause he'd do it for me," had been the response.

Barricade noted that the traffic had cleared. He increased his speed, keeping the lights flashing.


	9. Chapter 9

Tranquility, Nevada

_How had things gone to hell so fast?_

Lennox asked himself that as he took cover, and kept his M4 leveled at the lumbering Decepticon. Hopefully, his sabot rounds would take him out… but even then the bastard would have time for a dying shot, and the hostage…

"This isn't going well," he muttered.

"That is an understatement," Ironhide said. His cannons were out and aimed at Barricade, who had a human in his hand… and who meant business.

"No kidding," muttered Sideswipe, who was nursing a wound on his arm. Sunstreaker had not been hurt, but he was fuming just as well – Barricade had blasted a truck carrying lots of soda – the carbonated beverages (what were cream soda, root beer, and Pepsi, anyhow?) and the flames had really made a mess of the yellow Autobot's paint job.

"Situation?" Optimus Prime asked.

"Barricade is holding Simmons and five other humans hostage. He says that unless Ratchet shows up in twelve hours, he will kill a human – and one more per twelve-hour increment," Ironhide said.

"And he and Perceptor are on their way to San Diego," Optimus said.

"We have an AC-130 en route," Lennox said. "Laser-guided sabot rounds… one shot into his head, and lights out."

"I'd like to avoid killing if possible," Optimus said. He'd seen and done a lot of killing.

"Well, what other medics do you have?" Lennox asked.

"Wheeljack is five hours away," Optimus said.

"Okay, that may give us time. Why would he want Ratchet?" Sideswipe asked.

"Could Frenzy be hurt?" Lennox said, recalling the time Sam had briefed him in on his encounter with the minibot.

"If so, it must be bad," Optimus said.

"Proceeding on that assumption, what then?" Sideswipe asked.

"First, we get Wheeljack here," Lennox said. "See if he'll be okay with him and will release the hostages."

"And if not?" Sideswipe asked.

"We drop him," Lennox said, leaving no room for argument.

Three Hours Later

The Saleen S7R transformed into the robotic forum of Wheeljack.

"Right here, Prime," he said. "I brought my gyro-inhibiter shells, and can disable Barricade once you give the word."

"If necessary," Optimus said. "No, the first step is to find out what Barricade wants."

"Wants? Probably just to squash some humans," Sideswipe muttered.

"Hey… what's that sheltered in the alley?" Sunstreaker asked.

"Where is the Autobot Ratchet?" shouted Barricade.

"Time to talk," Prime said.

Prime stepped out, his rifle leveled at Barricade.

"Release the humans," he said.

"You bring Ratchet here. NOW!" Barricade responded. "Or these humans go squish."

"Ratchet is off assisting other injured Transformers," Optimus said.

"Then recall him… or do I start squishing?" Barricade asked.

"This isn't going well," Lennox muttered.

"Why do you need Ratchet?" Optimus asked, trying to buy breems…

"Why do you ask?"

Wheeljack stepped out.

"Pretty obvious, Prime. I'd be willing to bet my energy converters that Frenzy is badly injured," he said. "I can see if I can repair him, if Barricade will let me…"

Three minutes later

Wheeljack returned, shaking his head.

"Frenzy's in pretty bad shape. I can stabilize him, but that's about it," he said.

"What is he willing to give in return?" Optimus asked.

"Some of the humans free, but not all of them."

"Not acceptable," Lennox said.

"Agreed," Optimus said.

"He certainly took Ratchet being unavailable well," Lennox said.

"I knew how to explain it – Barricade can recognize that he is trying to aid two Cybertronians," Wheeljack said.

"What next?" Lennox asked.

"I start fixing Frenzy," Wheeljack said. "I think it will work better if we try to get as many as he will release out. He wants to keep one human while I work on Frenzy."

"We got movement! A number of people walking out!" one soldier called out. Lennox moved to see most of the hostages. A quick count revealed that one was missing.

"Simmons didn't," Lennox muttered.

"I'll start to work on Frenzy," Wheeljack said.

"Mirage here," came a voice over Optimus' comlink. "I have a clear shot on Barricade."

"Time to go to work," said Wheeljack.

Time to see how it went.

Off San Diego, California

The recovery operation had not taken too long. Gears and Windcharger were in good shape, they just had to warm up. As they did, Ratchet and Perceptor monitored the situation. Ratchet had received word about Frenzy and the hostage situation.

When word came, a Marine Corps MV-22 moved overhead. A harness dropped, and Ratchet transformed and was hooked to the chopper, which began flying him to the shore.

Perceptor was able to handle the situation. If anything, Gears and Windcharger would be okay very soon. After Ratchet had given them a lot of rest.

Meanwhile, Ratchet was preparing himself to deal with the need to save a mech. The updates from Wheeljack were not good. Frenzy might have cranial damage, and the readings… those were not normal for a Cybertronian. A human's life was at stake, and Ratchet didn't know how that human would live, because he had no idea what was wrong with Frenzy.


End file.
